Abdullah Cevdet's Translations (1908-1910)

This study aims to analyze Abdullah Cevdet's translations published within the firstthree years (1908-1910) of the Second Ottoman Constitutional period by taking "culture planning" aspects of them as its focal point. It is the first academic attempt to reflect specifically on the Turkish translation history of the Second Constitutional period within a modern paradigm of translation studies. In this research,Abdullah Cevdet's translations are examined from a systemic point of view, and areassociated with the dynamics in the Ottoman cultural polysystem. This study shows that Abdullah Cevdet aimed to introduce new literary and cultural "options" into the Ottoman "culture repertoire" with his translation ofShakespeare's plays and other Western non-literary works. From a systemic point of view, this research connects AbdullahCevdet's translation of these plays and of some Western non-literary works with his ideological program. On another level, it also pointsto a new orientation at the turn of the twentieth century observed in Abdullah Cevdet'sShakspeare translations regarding the concept and practice of translation.